Monthly Archives: January 2018

1. Speaking of endings….at your wit’s end, at loose ends, a dead end, burn the candle at both ends, all’s well that end’s well, or no end in sight…which ‘end’ phrase might best be applied to your life lately? Explain.

I am feeling relatively calm at the moment. Nothing causing a flurry of activity or undue stress, so I will choose alls well that ends well. That was what Ma Ingalls was known to quote when things didn’t quite turn out as expected, and that has mostly been the story of my life! Seems like a good philosophy for living because in what kind of life does everything turn out just the way you planned?!

2. What was a must have accessory when you were growing up? Did you own one? If so tell us what you remember about it.

I remember in around 8th or 9th grade, it seemed like all the girls had these super cute white ski parkas with a furry collar or hood. I wanted one so bad!!! But my ever practical Mother nixed the white and bought me a similar one in purple. I was somewhat disappointed at first, because those white coats were sweeeet, but I TOTALLY get it now!!!!3. Something that made you smile yesterday?

I asked The Boy and The Dane to send us a picture, cause Grammy and Papa need to see how little MoonPie is growing! She is all about moving and making sweet little noises!

And apparently tasting!

4. January 30th is National Croissant Day. Do you like croissants? Sweet or savory? We’re having chicken salad for lunch…would you rather have yours served on a croissant, a wrap, a bagel, bread, or a roll of some sort?

I do like croissants and I would choose to have chicken salad on one. I am an equal opportunity bread lover though, and I would not turn down any of the choices!5. Sum up your January in fifteen words or less.

This is our third week of the Keto diet. I have lost 5 lbs and Honey has lost six, so we are not complaining! Surprisingly, it can be difficult to get enough fat in your diet, who would have thunk it? There are all kinds of fat bomb recipes on Pinterest to help you with that, including sweet and savory. Since I have a steady, insistent sweet tooth, I opted for sweet and both Honey and I agreed that this recipe was a winner!

I didn’t make ours in a traditional peanut butter cup, I put the cheesecake part in and just added the chocolate on top, much simpler and quicker. I also made 2 different sizes, some in a silicone mold (small) and some in a mini muffin tin (larger). This was a keeper, so YUMMY! Will definitely venture into the fat bomb territory again!! Our thanks to Keto Mama!

Hi Guys, thanks for stopping by, if you would like to link up, click on the button below and head over to Joyce’s. She’ll tell you what to do! Let’s go.

1. January 24th is National Compliment Day. Is it easy or not so easy for you to accept a compliment? Share a recent compliment you’ve given or received.

I feel I can take a compliment when it’s quick, I can say thank you and move on. But if it goes on past a certain point I’m not sure what to do with it and it almost becomes embarrassing! And of course it’s a very fine line between the two 🙂

Honey had some free time before he left for his Bible study last Saturday, so he used it to wash and gas up my car! He is a big old hunk of honey! We have had a lot of yucky weather up here in The Mitten and our car, Johnny Cash, was a filthy piglet! He was also low on gas because I was waiting for the frigid temperatures to rise before I wanted to get out there to pump. I had heard a rumor that we were having a warmup on the weekend, so I was holding out! I thanked him for taking such good care of me! ❤2. Ten little things you are loving right now.

1. Since we are trying the Keto diet, I have had my ear to the ground about any new-ish products. Mrs. Schmenkman told me that she had tried Monk Fruit sugar, and in looking for it on Amazon, I found this to go on my yummy Keto pancakes! It is not thick like regular syrup, but it tastes very good.

2. Speaking of the yummy Keto pancakes! I know it says waffles, but we only have a single waffle maker and it takes too long. I double this recipe and keep the rest in the fridge to get me through the week. Loving them.

3. Sugar free “sugared” pecans. Good grief, I can’t keep my hand out of the container!

4.Mousey ordered this book and I don’t think she was aware that Dana Carpender is my favorite author on all things low carb. I have about 4 of her cookbooks and have enjoyed reading her thoughts about the Keto diet and browsing through her new recipes. She makes things so easy to understand and her writing style makes me feel like I am visiting with an old friend. 🙂

5. Mousey gave me a couple of these handy dandy things for Christmas! I always need bags in the car to carry in my purchases from Sam’s. These fold up flat, click open, and carry a TON of stuff!!! Every time I use them I think they are so clever!!

6. I am always happy to find a good, scent free lotion, and this one works very nicely on my dry claws! The Ab-Cat concurs, because she has sandpaper hands without the benefit of hand cream.

7. Honey is getting laid off for 2 weeks after this weekend, I’M LOVING THAT!!!!! I am calling it retirement practice!!!

8. Always loving this spicy fellow, but he is especially lovey dovey when it’s cold outside. He sticketh closer than a brother in his quest to remain toasty!

9.Speaking of cold, loving my bun warmers in the new car!

10. Loving these 10 precious fingers! Lifted this off her Mama’s Instagram account. Our Grandgirl Moonpie is apparently on the move, her parents probably could use a little of this peacefulness!

3. Would people describe you as a positive person? Do you see yourself that way? I read here a list/description of eight things positive people do differently-Positive people find something to look forward to every day, they celebrate the small stuff, they’re kind, they stay busy, accept responsibility for their actions, forgive themselves, know when to move on, and resist comparisonsWhich action on the list would you say you do regularly? Which action could you add to your life to give you a more positive outlook? If you’re a positive person, what’s something you do regularly that’s not on the list?

I think people would describe me as positive and that is how I see myself. I think I can find something to look forward to every day because I enjoy very eclectic things. I like the days that I have to be up and out in the morning because that means I am probably going walking or to my Bible study, where I will learn new things and see people that I love to be with. I also look forward to days at home where I can have a second cup of tea, go through my routine on the computer, you know, check the blogs I read, look at the news, Instagram and Facebook, dabble in Pinterest and catch up on Words With Friends! Add in days with new adventures! See? It’s all good, something to look forward to every day!!

I would add being thankful to the list, Being positive seems to have an element of gratefulness for what you have instead of focusing on what you don’t. I try and count my blessings every day and thank the Lord for His provision.4. Homemade chicken soup, beef stew, or a bowl of chili…what’s your pleasure on a cold winter’s day?

None of those sound particularly enticing to me. Honey does make a yummy Stracciatella, which is more like Italian chicken soup and far superior in my opinion! I do also like chili from a Coney Island, not so much made at home.

5. The best part of my day is….

Talking with my People. The days seem to have a rhythm and there is time for one on one conversation with them all at certain times. I love hearing about their day or something they have learned, and especially when they have a funny story to share.6. Insert your own random thought here.

It would seem lately that house elves have confiscated our luncheon plates. It’s the only way to rationalize our empty plate spot in the drawer! Have they been mysteriously used elsewhere, or been broken and no one is fessing up to it? So it’s been an ongoing issue for a while now and I have been looking for some replacements. I also need to confess that I threw all of our Tupperware lunch plates in the recycling bin because they were a disaster. You know how sometimes you use something for so long that you don’t really see it? And then one day you take a good look at it and are horrified? Well, that was the story with those.

I have never had Corelle before but have always heard that they are pert near indestructible. Unfortunately, they have never had any colors or patterns that suited our decor. These don’t technically “match”, but because of our immediate need, I am taking a chance that they will “go”. Or that no one will notice. Plus they were on sale and will not end up all chippy, so Corelle for the WIN!

Blogging has become my memory bank, keeping track of the days of our lives. I have been a spotty blogger the last couple of years, but when I go back and look through what I have posted, I am always so glad I took the time to write down my thoughts. I have tried to be a more intentional blogger lately, hoping I can keep it up!

2. Some people like to travel in the winter months. Do you enjoy the beach in winter? According to Southern Living the best U.S. beach towns to visit this winter are-

Have you been to any of the towns listed (in any season)? Which on the list appeals to you most this winter?

I do like to travel to warm places when The Mitten is inhospitable. We usually take a trip to Florida during the winter. I have not been to a single one of the places listed, but would be more than happy to visit any of them! I will pick Folly Beach, South Carolina because I read a book once that was set there.

3. What’s a song you’re embarrassed to know all the lyrics to? Are you really embarrassed or do just think you should be?

Hmmm, there could be so many! One of my many useless gifts is remembering words to songs from the last 45 years. I heard a song the other day that I remember thinking was very dumb when it came out in 1976, when i was 14. The station was CKLW, one of the few channels my A.M. radio received! I didn’t get a stereo until a few years later, and THEN I was able to listen to all of the fine F.M. stations that Detroit was and is known for.

The song was Muskrat Love by Captain and Tennille. Goodness, that was a dumb song, but I could probably sing along today and even add the stupid muskrat noises!

4. When you were a kid what’s something you thought would be fantastic as an adult, but now that you’re an adult you realize it’s not all that fantastic?

Staying up late!!!!! For many years I was a night owl, but that is no longer the case. And I’m ok with that.

5. Share a quote you hope will inspire you in 2018.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I took a screen-shot of these off The Dane’s Instagram. Look who is standing! MoonPie has been working on her skillz! She seems mighty proud of herself!!! ❤

On an outing with her Folks, loving her boots! We are thankful for the internet, it’s hard to be far away from your People!

I believe I mentioned that The Mitten has been C.O.L.D. lately. And snowy. So I have been IN a lot!

Honey and I have been watching Justified on Amazon Prime. Man, those hillbilly’s down yonder in Kentucky are some bad customers!!!!

Honey had a long weekend off because of Martin Luther King Day. He goes back to work for 4 days and is then laid off for 2 weeks. It’s like practice for when he retires!!!

Speaking of Honey, he has been planning a fishing trip to Alaska next summer with Mrs. Schmenkman’s husband, Mr C!!! Honey has been a couple times before, so he has some ideas about what to do and what to miss. They have been e-mailing, texting and calling each other up a storm, trying to get all the details hammered out. I sent a chat message to Mrs. Schmenkman while playing Words With Friends. I said; “they are so cute planning their trip!!!”, she said “I know!!!!”

Yesterday was my first day on the keto diet. I had keto pancakes with a schnibble of homemade raspberry jam made with Truvia for brunch, and for dinner I had eggs and sausage. I was alone and Mama don’t cook when there ain’t nobody home. In the literature I received from the natural path dr it mentioned eating in “windows” of time. Such as only eating in a 10 hour window and fasting for 14, or eating in an 8 hour window and fasting for 16. Black belt keto eaters can evidently shrink their windows down further to 6 or 4. I unintentionally had a 7 hour eating window, so I am pretty happy with that. I wasn’t starving, but I know that some days are hungry days and the heart wants what the heart wants! So long as it’s legal! Honey is starting today because he needed to polish off the remainder of his last hurrah pizza and wings. Mousey has been on it a week or two already and she said she would be glad to welcome us to her eating regimen. She said it was hard and lonely on her own.

I would be happy to loose 10 pounds and ESTATIC to loose 15. I’m not sure what Honey’s goal is.

Sy has been sticking closer than a brother in all of the cold weather. He is all about laps and blankets these days. Seeking warmth from Mousey’s computer?

He sleeps on The Ab-Cat’s desk in front of her computer all.the.time. He bushed. That paw.

Because it has been majorly wintry, I have been reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I like to read about that winter from HE-double hockey sticks whenever I start to feel the least bit sorry for myself. No matter what we’ve got going on, it’s not 7 months of blizzards, up to –40 degrees below zero temperatures and no food, coal or kerosene because the trains were not able to run!!!!!

I’m going to Sam’s today because we are down to 7 sticks of butter and our last pint of cream, HORRORS!!!!!

Hi Guys, have some dribbles of stuff to document for today. Cause that is what this here blog is, documentation of our life.

The Mitten is currently bracing for an unnamed storm that could produce 1 or 12 inches of snow and ice. I heard wild tales earlier in the week, but things were significantly downgraded by yesterday. So really, it could be anything in the whole anything kingdom. It has been a strange week, starting in the negative temperatures last Friday to 57 degrees yesterday. That’s what we natives like to call Pure Michigan. Just like our state slogan proclaims.

Let’s go back to last fall when we had kinder, gentler temperatures. Our neighbor Karen texted this picture of a most beautimous rainbow directly over our house! The trees were in fine form I must say!

When The Boy and The Dane were in town last November, they got together with Elyk and The Boy’s former small group leader Mike, from when they were in middle school! All of them have married in the last few years and in a twist of fate, all of them became fathers this year! Just a fun fact here, in the picture they are standing in order of their baby’s birth, with Mike and Jen going first in March, with Elyk and Pug Mama taking second in May, and The Boy and The Dane bringing up the rear in July. What is amusing to me is that they married in the exact opposite order. Of course Elyk’s position remained the same, smack in the middle!

Here the guys are with their offspring!

When we bought our two new couches, some 3 years ago, we stuck our old ones down the basement in case one of the kids needed them upon setting up their own homesteads. Many parts of our basement contain many similar items kept for the same reason. The Boy and The Dane already have two couches, so they were unlikely to need a third, plus it was not their colors. Mousey claimed one because she is needy and she knows how comfortable they are!

I was telling The Peanuts Champ that a friend’s son was looking for a replacement couch for his that broke. I took pictures and sent them to her with the warning that they were heavy and her son would need to bring help to get it out of the basement. Because Honey is old and tired and while on flat land I can be helpful, I am not a useful engine moving things up a flight of stairs. The Peanut’s Champ said if things did not work out there, her son Josh might be interested as he was moving out and also needy. The other friend’s son found a couch elsewhere, so Josh came and got ours!

We told him the same thing, bring friends; it’s heavy, so he brought these charming fellows. We also told him how comfy it was, and a great napping couch! The reason I tell you this whole tale is because of the next part, which was so darn cute and resourceful!!

Josh was renting the second floor of a house, and his friends lived on the first floor. He is a math major, so he brought his measuring tape and paper to do math stuff to figure out if they could navigate the couch around a tight turn in the stairway, where it would be hanging over the railing a large percentage! According to their calculations they felt confident they could do it! They sent this picture when they got it in!!!

Josh is on the right and it was such a pleasure to help him out on his new adventure! He was Mousey’s first best friend as preschoolers and has grown into a fine young man. On a funny note, he did not have a bed for the first little bit after moving in so he slept on the couch. He agreed that it was a good sleeping couch!!! Best of luck Friend! ❤

One of our jobs on the Admin team at BSF is to show the love to our group and children’s leaders. Our normal once a month fellowships are sack lunch affairs, but twice a year, at Christmas and end of year, we do things a little fancier. Our Class Administrator, Trenda, decided we should decorate a little different. I feel the need to insert here that there was not one person on the whole team that felt decorating was their love language!!!!! I was looking on Pinterest for new ideas, and most of them included wooden rounds. The first place I remembered seeing those was at Nurse Lauren’s wedding last fall.

When I called Rae-Babe to ask about how she put hers together, she graciously offered to let us borrow hers!!! The rounds AND the hurricane globes!!!

I met with Trenda at Michael’s and we picked out a garland that we cut up to use on our 8 tables. She produced evergreen clippings and actual cranberries, I found candles at IKEA and there was a group leader who arrived early who said she LOVED to decorate!!! Thank you Lord, it looked loverly!!! Thanks Rae-Babe for the use of your stuff!